Who flew the confederate flag at the freedom convoy ?
The Freedom Convoy was a protest movement against COVID restrictions early this year. This massive demonstration was led by truckers faced with a cross border vaccine mandate and thousands of fed-up Canadians from across the country joined them in Ottawa.
The peaceful convoy demonstration lasted about 3 weeks until dismantling on 18 and 19 January 2022 after the government used a counter-terrorism law, the Emergencies Act, to arrest protest leaders and seize bank accounts of those involved.
A day before the convoy arrived in late January, a City of Ottawa councillor, ArielTroster, tweeted a picture of a pickup truck with a Confederation flag hanging in the back.
My friend who works on Elgin just sent me this photo. Yes, that is a confederate flag. In case you had any doubts about the intentions of this racist convoy. Stay safe, friends. #ottcity #SomersetWard pic.twitter.com/xfZ38wbl6t
— ArielTroster (she/her) (@ArielTroster) January 28, 2022
She wrote, "Yes, that is a confederate flag. In case you had any doubts about the intentions of this racist convoy. Stay safe, friends.”
She didn’t talk to the person with the flag. She assumed, through her own bigotry, that the flag must be related to the convoy. Two other instances arose; the January 29th, where a Nazi flag and a custom-made confederate/truckers' flag were seen.
For more about the investigation you can watch my previous report here.
On the last day of the Public Order Emergency Commission – the official investigation into the government’s abuse of the Emergencies Act, also known as the Trucker Commission, a man came to us on the street to tell us he was the one responsible for the confederate flag on the pickup.
Where was he all this time? Why come forward now, after his flag was used to taint the actions of thousands of peaceful people who had nothing to do with him?
An investigation on the license plate has been done and the formal letter from the Ministry of transportation reveal that it is the same pickup described as the picture under the name of Maurice Landriault. So, this man is really the one who used the flag behind in the truck, and as he says, without wanting to cause any damage to the convoy. But he did damage the reputation of the convoy with his actions. Here is what happened.
Alexandra Lavoie
Quebec based Journalist
Alexa graduated with a degree in biology from Laval University. Throughout her many travels, she has seen political instability as well as corruption. While she witnessed social disorder on a daily basis, she has always been a defender of society’s most vulnerable. She’s been around the world several times, and now joins Rebel News to shed light on today’s biggest stories.